CPS pulls kids from care home

State won't disclose reason for court-ordered removals

Arizona Child Protective Services has removed an undisclosed number of youths from Parc Place, a Chandler-based residential treatment center with a history of allegations of sexual and physical misconduct involving troubled young people who live there.

Acadia Healthcare, Parc Place's parent company in Franklin, Tenn., confirmed Tuesday to The Arizona Republic that CPS had removed some children from its supervision. The company declined to provide additional details and would not say how many kids were removed. However, state officials indicated late Tuesday that the children would soon be returned.

Calls to Parc Place Chief Executive David Polunas were not returned. He did, however, report to the Arizona Department of Health Services, which licenses the facility, that children were removed Friday because of a court order. No other details were provided to the ADHS.

It is unclear what prompted CPS, which is part of the state Department of Economic Security, to remove the youths. Eleanor Andersen, DES spokeswoman, declined to answer questions about the reason for the removals or how many kids were taken.

However, in a written statement late Tuesday, Andersen said, "Over the weekend, the Department of Economic Security responded to safety concerns raised by the court regarding children at Parc Place. The department took necessary precautions to address the court's concerns, including the removal of children. After (a) closed proceeding this afternoon, the (Juvenile) Court ordered the return or retention of children at Parc Place. The department will comply with the court's orders."

Earlier in the day, Andersen said that the DES contracts with Parc Place to provide services to foster children who require residential treatment and that they had been removed "out of an abundance of caution and in light of recent allegations."

Andersen did not elaborate on the nature of recent allegations. However, 12 News, a media partner of The Republic, aired an investigative series late last month in which three Parc Place employees were alleged to have been involved in sexual misconduct with patients. The company denied wrongdoing and said it reported the incidents to appropriate state authorities.

Parc Place houses up to 87 children in Chandler. Along with a 32-bed Acadia-owned juvenile residential treatment center in Casa Grande also called Parc Place, the company received at least $2.8 million in state funds to treat troubled children in fiscal 2012, state records show.

It was unknown if any children were removed from Parc Place in Casa Grande.

Children may be brought to Parc Place in Chandler by their parents or be ordered by the courts to live there for therapy. Typically, those residents are ages 11 to 17 and have serious problems, including substance abuse, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or mood disorders, according to former staff members. The facility also treats sex offenders in a segregated unit.

Parc Place in Chandler has a history of reports to various authorities alleging that youths have been involved in sexual and physical misconduct, records obtained by The Republic show.

Parc Place, as part of its licensing agreement with the state health department, must report all allegations of physical and sexual misconduct. In addition, it must report suicide attempts, runaways and other serious safety issues.

The Republic found that Parc Place during the past three years has reported at least nine instances in which staff members were alleged to have been involved in sexual misconduct with patients.

The reports do not indicate whether the allegations were substantiated.

But in at least three instances, Parc Place fired the employees alleged to have been involved.

The Republic also found that Parc Place during the past three years has reported about 100 allegations of violence among patients.

One of those cases was an April 26 riot involving at least 10 girls who were fighting with staff and each other, according to a Chandler police report.

Three teenage girls were charged with rioting, a felony, while one of the girls also was charged with two counts of assault, a misdemeanor, for punching one staff member in the face and biting the finger of another staffer.

During the riot, one of the girls began kicking a television and VCR, and one of the girls told police she "just wanted to act crazy" and "no one has control over her."

The Chandler Police Department, records show, has responded to at least 210 calls for service at the facility during the past three years. The department about a decade ago was critical of Parc Place for a lack of control over activities there.

However, Chandler Detective Seth Tyler said the Police Department "does not suffer any strain from the volume of calls for service at Parc Place." Tyler said Parc Place, 2190 N. Grace Blvd., is in a small police-beat area where calls can be handled by officers patrolling that beat and by officers in neighboring beats.

Reach the reporters at craig.harris @arizonarepublic.com or rob.odell@arizonarepublic.com.